The present invention relates to blowing apparatus of the type having an axial fan driven by a gasoline engine and more particularly to a tubular body suspensible from one's shoulder both for use and for conveyance.
Power blowers are known that are provided with a centrifugal fan and carried on one's back. Such blowers are usually equipped with an unexchangeable one-sided, generally right-handed blowing nozzle and therefore are awkward to do tasks on the left. It is often the case that a blowing operation accompanies another work, such as water-sprinkling, repairing gutters and downspouts, and carrying garbage cans, it is troublesome to load and unload the blower on and from operator's back whenever the type of work changes.
In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus has interiorly a gasoline engine and an axial fan and exteriorly an annular body, a flexible tube, and a blowing nozzle. The body consists of fan, suction, and discharge housings, the fan housing being removably, peripherally and air-tightly connected in front and in rear with the suction and discharge housings, respectively. The suction housing surrounds the engine which has the crankshaft coupled with the rotor of the fan and the casing detachably fixed to the stator blades of the fan. The stator blades are removably secured to the inner periphery of the fan housing. The one or two-staged fan requires less power from the engine as compared with the conventional centrifugal fan. The engine has no cooling impellers because it is cooled by the suction-air flowing around it. There is a cone-guide coaxially disposed within the discharge housing and in front of the rotor of the fan.
In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus can be suspended from an operator's shoulder in a substantially horizontal position by a shoulder belt. Spongy pads are affixed on the both sides of the body so as to prevent uncomfortable vibrations from being transmitted to the operator. A stand is mounted on the underside of the body near a point projected by the center of gravity of the engine and occasionally wheeled for convenience instead of dragging the apparatus.
In other embodiments, the cone-guide has the inside space used as a fuel tank, in order to make the apparatus light and compact. The blowing nozzle and flexible tube or the discharge housing in addition to them are made of synthetic plastics in the form of a single body without any connecting means, for the purpose of reducing the weight of the apparatus.
In summary, it is an object of the present invention to provide a blowing apparatus of the type having an axial blower.
Another object of the invention to provide a blowing apparatus suspensible from one's shoulder.
A further object of the invention to provide a blowing apparatus that is light and compact.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed discription given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.